MATRIZ DE PRESENTACION DE RESULTADOS

In this thesis, I set out to explore some of the diversity regarding alternative food practices in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, namely CT and ASAT, so as to understand how they can contribute to the establishment of a sustainable food paradigm. I began by outlining how the CFS has grown through the promotion of industrial agriculture with external inputs, in recent decades coupled with trade liberalisation and global markets. The result has been corporate concentration, with global trends of land appropriations, and supermarkets influencing global production and consumption patterns. I have argued that the implications of these trends are related to disembeddedness, where it no longer

matters where and how something was produced, and the dispossession of peasants, who are marginalised within the CFS. The sustainability turn within the CFS means that supermarkets and agribusinesses are increasingly involved in “quality” markets, a trend which is unsustainable in the long run, given that these actors are part of an economic growth paradigm. I have also argued that this turn can favour peasants, but largely the ones who have the means to become entrepreneurial farmers, which makes socio-cultural aspects of food production increasingly redundant.

The CFS is growing in prominence also in Romania and in relation to these trends, I have argued that it is crucial to explore the alternative strategies emerging as a response since they can give insights into how to organise food production and consumption differently. ASAT and CT constitute such alternatives and in this thesis I have examined potential synergies and conflicts within the networks and their level of embeddedness in the local as well as broader institutional and political context. What, then, has been learned from this study? How can these AFNs contribute to a sustainable food paradigm, and foster a process towards a point where alternative practices can more substantially challenge the supremacy of the CFS?

ASAT and CT accommodate to consumers' need for tasty, good quality, and local produce, and producers' need for a more secure and rewarding market. As seen in the analysis, CT consumers are more satisfied with their network, but ASAT might have the potential to be a more transformational mode of food provisioning, through the focus on building a sense of community and solidarity.

Potential conflicts lie mainly in issues regarding quantity of food, the delivery system, unequal power relations, and inclusiveness. A major synergy within these networks is the idea of quality produce being closely tied to peasant production, which I see as limiting the prospects for the CFS to undermine these AFNs. This synergy constitutes a main embedding factor, especially within CT, where the perceived food quality assists in strengthening producer-consumer relations. Thus, although I have seen that the vertical embeddedness is limited considering disadvantageous trends on national and EU levels, the networks are in the process of becoming more embedded in a horizontal perspective which improves the prospects of a paradigm shift. Furthermore, I would argue that the equating of quality food with peasant produce can in practice be seen as a promotion of agroecology, as traditional farming systems are largely agroecological, thus contributing to a sustainable food paradigm.

I have argued that peasant farming is relevant for a sustainable food paradigm, and that engaging in AFNs and turning to agroecology are important strategies in peasants' strive for autonomy.

However, since agroecology is not an explicit aim within these AFNs, and not seen as a political strategy, some producers in the AFNs, for example, choose hybrid seeds over traditional ones even though this reduces their autonomy. Gonzalez de Molina (2013) emphasises that for agroecology to be able to effectively challenge the CFS, politics has to be at the centre which involves seeing how food production is closely “linked to the technological, political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of the broader food system” (Tomich et al. 2011:213), in other words recognising the vertical embeddedness. The actors involved in CT and ASAT are largely not aware of broader trends influencing food and agriculture in Romania, which indeed is a limitation of these AFNs.

However, this limitation could be dealt with by strengthening producer-consumer relationships since “[n]o agroecological transition will be fully successful without a major alliance between producers and consumers” (Gonzalez de Molina 2013:56). AFNs such as CT and ASAT could play an important role in creating such an alliance, since relationships between producers and consumers are already under development as food is exchanged and produced to various extents via direct interactions. These relationships could be further strengthened so that broader benefits, for example related to peasant livelihoods and environmental sustainability, can become central aims for the involved actors. I see that such strengthening opportunities are available in ASAT through the co-planning and community activities, but less available in CT, which might be a limitation.

The AFNs are further contributing to a sustainable food paradigm by emphasising the importance of socio-cultural aspects of agri-food, which I have argued can serve as a way to position the AFNs as qualitatively different from the CFS. In CT and ASAT, such aspects can be seen through producers expressing pride in providing urban citizens with food, consumers seeing peasants as an important part of the Romanian identity, and through having community and solidarity as important aims. On a related note, I have argued that the AFNs are part of a (re)peasantisation process, whereby the autonomy of peasants is increased. There is potential in furthering this process, considering the interest among consumers to engage in peasant farming themselves. However, (re)peasantisation is always threatened by depeasantisation, as a consequence of the developments within the CFS (Ploeg 2008). Therefore, I would argue that in order to effectively establish a new paradigm, it is important to consider how alternative practices can build connections between each other so as to constitute a more significant counter-force to the CFS and the process of depeasantisation.

For the future, I see that if actors within these embedded food systems in Cluj-Napoca are able to foster closer alliances between producers, consumers, and other initiatives, further emphasise the

socio-cultural importance of the food networks, and recognise the broader political significance in their actions, there is potential for a paradigm shift. A shift which would increase the potential for ensuring environmental sustainability and social justice. What the future for food and agriculture in Romania will look like remains unknown, but it is clear that ASAT and CT, despite the discussed weaknesses and external threats, constitute seeds of change towards the establishment of a sustainable paradigm for food.